The 5Ps of Employee Fulfillment

Kathleen Hogan

EVP, Human Resources at Microsoft

In today’s world, the lines between work and personal time have become blurred and
most people rarely leave their work fully “at the office.” As a society, we spend so much
of our time working—and thinking about work—that we want our work to have meaning.
That’s why I believe we’re seeing an even greater need for people to feel a sense of
purpose in their careers. With that in mind, one of my main goals as Chief People
Officer at Microsoft is to make sure that working here meets and fulfills the needs of our
employees.

But, how do you address this for 130,000 employees worldwide?

What I’ve come to realize is that, similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there is a
pyramid of needs that can help employees feel valued and fulfilled at work. I call these
the5Ps of Employee Fulfillment.

These 5Ps were inspired by Dr. Maslow, who —in a quest to understand human
potential—mapped the pursuit of happiness as a pyramid, with more basic needs such
as psychological and safety needs at the bottom, and self-actualization—the desire to
fulfill one’s self—at the top.
The 5Ps work in a very similar way. By fulfilling the basic needs of an employee first,
you can then explore the true impact of higher self-actualization needs. Here’s how I
think about our 5Ps at Microsoft:

 Pay. When it comes to work, human behavior is multi-motivated, but pay is a

foundational need. Employees want a fair, market-driven wage that recognizes
their contributions, and they want opportunity to progress to achieve greater
compensation as their scope and impact increases.
 Perks. We’ve been on a journey to improve, enhance, and broaden our benefits
to ensure they reflect our culture, including the expansion of our parental
and caregiver leave policies. Building off solid protection benefits addressing
health, life and retirement and extending into family benefits and beyond, we
strive to offer benefits that empower both our employees and their families to live
life well. And while perks and pay are critically important to satisfaction and can
be very attractive to employees, we recognize there is more we can do to
encourage people to not only join our ranks - but to stay.
 People. People are at the heart of every company, and this could not be any
truer for Microsoft. Last year, I shared some of the stories of a few of the
employees who inspire me, and those stories just scratch the surface. The
people with whom you work, the teams that achieve great innovation, the
colleagues who become close friends combined with a culture that encourages
you to grow and be your authentic self provides a lot of joy and inspiration every
day. Deep connections with one another, combined with a sense of inclusion and
belonging (and fun!) is a force multiplier for the first 2 Ps.
 Pride. From our Autism hiring program, to AI for good, to employees going above
and beyond to help their communities through our giving and volunteering
program, I am proud of what we stand for. But it’s equally as important that our
employees feel the same. Being proud of the organization for which you work
and being proud of the work you do are primary drivers of motivation and
satisfaction. Just as our pay and perks work to provide the foundational support
for our employees, we are working hard to ensure each employee feels a deep
sense of belonging and pride in our company, and what they do every day.
 Purpose. Each day, our employees show up to contribute to our ambitious
mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet, and
ultimately making a difference in the world. As a result, we focus on fostering a
workplace where everyone can use the power of the Microsoft platform to pursue
their passions, fulfill their purpose, and empower others. It’s core to our mission
as well as our culture. When your culture is paired with a purpose-driven mission,
employees use your company platform to realize their own aspirations and
passions and find deep meaning in what they do – and solutions for some of the
world’s biggest challenges result. A deep sense of Purposecombined with Pay,
Perks, People and Pride, is where the magic happens.

These 5Ps can apply to any organization, and we are working hard to deliver on all five
layers. For me personally –as I reflect on why I am still here after 15 years– I certainly
appreciate the pay as a single mom providing for my son. I’m grateful for our incredible
benefits that I leverage every year, and I’ve experienced the full extent of those benefits
while fighting cancer. I love the people and a culture where I can be myself. I am proud
to say I work for a company that stands for what we believe in. And I find deep purpose
empowering the people at Microsoft who do amazing things to empower others.

The ability to offer employees all 5Ps is why I love what I do, and it’s my aspiration for
everyone.